My Dearest Pen Pal-kun
by thedragonprincess21
Summary: In spite of what some people think, Edogawa Conan's life isn't always interesting. There are moments when he'll end up becoming bored out of his mind - so when he finds himself being a pen pal to Kuroba Kaito, a lover of riddles, he eagerly accepts the distraction. Little does he know that his life, now, is about to become much, much more interesting.


**Author's Note - **I've been really inspired by Detective Conan and Magic Kaito as of late, so there's been a lot of ideas kicking around in my brain. One of those ideas is the idea of Conan and Kaito connecting by randomly being assigned as pen pals. I've seen variations of this idea from a few other people and it made me want to write my own version of it.

Please take note that while this won't be based around any episode or manga issue, there will likely be spoilers! I'm caught up with both series and oftentimes I'll end up using said episodes as a reference - so just keep that in mind before you continue on reading.

I'm going to try to keep everyone in character as much as possible, but if anyone does sound a bit off - I apologize.

With that being said, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! None of these characters belong to me, obviously. They all belong to there rightful owner Gosho Aoyama! Feel free to give me any feedback if you want to! I love hearing back from others. :)

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**My Dearest Pen Pal-kun**

_Chapter One_

It was a rather dull day so far.

Conan had given up in trying to remain engaged with the lesson. In his defense, he did make a valid attempt earlier in trying to stay focused, but after a while he found his mind drifting away from the subject. There weren't too many cases as of late - which, he figured, was a good thing - but because of that his boredom had only increased. The Black Organization was keeping under the radar as well and while that was relief, it was also a reason for concern and frustration. It made it harder than it already was to dig up any information. He brushed his fingers through his hair irritably. It wasn't like he had many sources either. The members of the FBI would occasionally mention things to him - but not always. He was still a kid after all. He could always go down to Poirot and speak with Amuro-san, but he wasn't always the best source to go to either... for reasons.

Suddenly, a piece of paper entered his vision, causing his thoughts to scatter and he blinked in confusion. His teacher was going around the room handing out envelopes and pieces of paper. As he glanced around the room, everyone seemed to be already focusing on the current task he missed hearing about. He looked back at the paper and envelope. The envelope was already addressed to a Kuroba Kaito of Ekoda High School. Other than that, though, there was no other context.

Luckily, before he had to resort to leaning over to Haibara to ask what was going on, their teacher spoke up again. "Now. I know that a few of you were wondering what you should write to your pen pal," She smiled at them, "and my answer to that is anything you want. Maybe you could start with telling them a bit about yourself - this will be your first letter to them after all, so I'm sure they'd like to hear more about you."

_I see. So, this Kuroba Kaito is going to be my pen pal. I remember doing something like this when I was really was seven years old. _What in the world should he even write, though? _He's probably around my age, but it's not like I can just talk to him normally. I'm supposed to be only a primary student after all. What would a seven-year-old write to a high schooler? _Maybe it'd just be best to keep it simple and leave it at that. With that settled in his mind, he began to absently twirl his pen in his hand, trying to think of a few ways on how to start the letter and after few passing moments, he began to write.

_Dear Kuroba Kaito,_

_My name is Edogawa Conan – it's nice to meet you. I didn't really know what to write, but I wanted to know if you liked sports. I'm not apart of any sports right now, but I've always wanted to be a soccer player. How about you? I'm also a big fan of Sherlock Holmes and solving mysteries. Do you like reading mysteries? If so, do you know any good books?_

He took a moment to read over what he wrote and began to scratch the side of his head with his pen. Already it was beginning to sound a bit too mature for a primary student. However, maybe it would be okay. Now that he was thinking about it more, the letter he sent back then was pretty mature as well. It probably was just his personality. He decided to continue.

_Are you apart of any clubs? I'm kind of a part of an unofficial club called the Detective Boys – we like to go around and solves different mysteries. It's been pretty boring, though, lately, so if you ever have anything you need solved, feel free to ask. Anyway, I'm sorry if this letter seems abrupt. Like I said before I didn't really know what to say, but I look forward to hearing back from you. _

_Sincerely,_

_Edogawa Conan. _

He folded up the letter, tucking it into the envelope and sealed it. In front of him, Ayumi-chan and Mitsuhiko still seemed hard at work. To his left, Haibara was sitting quietly with her normal neutral expression. She seemed to be already done as well, and Genta wasn't writing either. Though, he wasn't sure if that was either because he was already done or if he even started. Once class was over, though, their teacher went around to collect their letters and as they made their way outside, he listened to their excited chattering. Haibara hung back behind the group with him, and he gave her a private smirk. "So – did you have fun writing to your pen pal?"

She stared over at him for a moment, before giving a bit of a smile herself. "Yes. I think I wrote something along the lines that it's dangerous to talk to strangers." And, with that being said, she began to walk up ahead of him.

_Oi, oi. _He stared after her in amusement for a moment before following. The poor soul who was the girl's pen pal was probably going to end up having a hard time writing to her.

It wasn't until a few days later that they ended up receiving letters in return.

Everyone was excited, of course, and he had to admit that he was a bit curious of how his own pen pal was going to respond, so when their teacher set his envelope on his desk, he opened it soon after and began to read.

_Hello there, Edogawa-kun~_

_Or can I call you Conan or Conan-kun? I'm not really one for formalities so you can just call me Kaito if you want! I don't really follow sports that much. I'll sometimes watch them on TV if they're the only things to watch, but other than that I'm not too interested in doing any myself. As for mysteries, I've only read a couple. I think Holmes is cool, though! If I had to choose, though, I think I'd be more of an Arsène Lupin fan~ _

_It sounds like you have quite the club over there, though – maybe since you're a huge fan of Holmes you could rename them the Baker Street Irregulars. If I ever have anything that needs to be solved, I'll be sure to come to you guys. Anyway! How about this? Since you sounded bored, I thought I'd write up a riddle for you to solve! You seem to be the type who likes solving puzzles. _

_This first one won't be too hard to figure out, but if you want more of a challenge, just ask! _

_**It's at the beginning of each eternity, **_

_**The end of time and space,**_

_**The beginning of every end,**_

_**And the end of every place.**_

_Kaito._

_P.S. – Here's a hint. It's in front of you right now._

Conan blinked – and then blinked once more. Right off the bat, Kuroba Kaito seemed to be the type of guy who was energetic and forward. Already, he suggested being on a first name basis – which was okay with him, honestly. It made things simpler. As he continued to read, he found himself a bit disappointed that he hadn't ended up with a fellow sports or mystery fan. But an _Arsène Lupin_ fan? Did that mean he had a thing for gentlemen thieves or did he just like the stories in general? _Don't tell me he's one of those Kaitou Kid fanatics too. _He chuckled under his breath at the thought. It didn't seem like he was completely brushing off Sherlock Holmes, though. When he suggested renaming the _Detectives Boys _to the _Baker Street Irregulars, _he smiled a bit. That would be a cool name – but he doubted the others would want to change it. Haibara probably wouldn't mind, but the other three seemed pretty set on the name.

As he read further, he was a bit surprised that the letter ended with a riddle to solve. _Maybe he's interesting after all. _He didn't bother hiding his eagerness as he began to think the riddle through. As Kaito mentioned, it didn't appear to be the type that was too overly complex. Tapping his pen idly against his chin, he read over the riddle once more. The one thing that stood out to him the most was the hint.

_**It's in front of you right now. **_

He looked up. The only thing in front of him was the back of Mitsuhiko's head – and beyond that was the front of the classroom. Neither of those seemed right, though, so perhaps it was something _directly _in front of him – something like the letter itself. He looked back down at the paper – trying to see if there was anything else unusual about it. It took him a bit, but after focusing on the riddle itself for a while he smiled as the answer finally came to him. He glanced up at the clock. He'd been too busy to notice, but it was already almost time for class to end – he would have to write quickly.

_Kaito,_

_Since it's okay for me to call you that, you can just call me either Conan or Conan-kun. I don't mind either. I accidentally spent most of my class time trying to figure out the riddle – so this letter is going to be a bit short. Anyway, the answer to your riddle is the letter "E". It was fun trying to figure it out – but like you said, it wasn't too hard to figure out. _

In fact, he felt kind of stupid once he did puzzle it out. The answer _had _been literally in front of his face the whole time.

_The reasoning behind that answer is this – _

"_The beginning of eternity" – eternity, the word itself, starts with "E"_

"_The end of time and space" – time and space both end with "E"_

"_The beginning of every end" – end begins with "E"_

"_The end of every place" – place ends with "E"_

_So, as the hint says, the answer was in front of me all along in the riddle itself. If you have any more to solve, I'd love to figure them out. This one was a bit too easy, so if you want – you can make it more complex this time. This means you like riddles too, right? Would you want to try one yourself? I don't have time to make one up right now, but I can in the next letter. _

_Conan. _

He was unaware, in that moment, that his letter would be the beginning of an all-out riddle war. When it reached the eyes of its receiver a couple days later, Kuruba Kaito smiled to himself as he read over the letter. At the start of the whole pen pal business, the magician hadn't really been too interested. In fact, during the day his class received the first letters – he'd been more focused on figuring out his target for his next heist. When he found out that his pen pal was his favorite critic, though, his attention was completely distracted.

"Ho~? So, the riddle was too easy for that mini Holmes after all." He grinned as he read over Tantei-kun's answer. It was correct, of course. He could almost picture the smirk of satisfaction on the boy's face after solving the riddle, and that image alone spurred him on into working out a more challenging riddle for the shrunken detective to figure out. He was in the middle of writing one out, when Aoko's voice distracted him, making him jump a bit.

"_Kaito!"_

Kaito grimaced a bit, rubbing his ear a bit as he sent a look over at his childhood friend. She looked annoyed. "_Oi. _Don't yell into my ear. What do you need?"

"_Mou, _Kaito, have you've been even listening?" She sighed, "I've been trying to talk to you for the past few minutes. What have you been smiling about over there? You're not planning to pull anymore pranks today, are you?"

Kaito scratched his nose turning his head away from her. "_Baaro. _I'm just writing to my pen pal like a normal student." She didn't really seem convinced because as he turned his attention back to his letter, he saw her give him a suspicious look. It wasn't too much of a surprise that she was. This morning the class had to suffer through his normal routine of tricks, and she'd been in the center of said pranks. The interruption was quickly forgotten, though, as he finished up writing his riddle. _Hm~ Should I add in a hint this time or no? _Knowing Tantei-kun, the boy would probably be able to eventually figure it out whether if there was a hint or not – but at the same time, it might be a good idea to anyway. It probably would be okay, but the kid was scarily sharp – if he accidentally gave any reason for the boy to suspect him for any reason – Tantei-kun would be on him like a shark. He teased the other a bit by mentioning Arsène Lupin and that alone probably brought Kaitou Kid to the boy's mind. Kuroba Kaito, however, was just some high schooler that Edogawa Conan so happened to come across because they were pen pals. He would have to keep on remembering that. It was too easy to slip into his Kid persona when talking to Conan – even through a letter.

Taking a moment to thoroughly check over the letter, Kaito tucked it into the envelope, his grin returning.

_Your move next, Pen Pal-kun~_


End file.
